


M.I.A. (A Pretty Little Liars & Emison Story)

by Leapyearbaby29



Category: Pretty Little Liars, emison
Genre: -A - Freeform, Aria the peacemaker, Badass big brother, Blushing Emily, CIA, Drama, Emison - Freeform, Estella being cute as hell, F/F, Fluff, Hanna being Hanna, Kidnapping, Smirking Alison, Smut, Spencer the diplomat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-16 18:41:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9285047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leapyearbaby29/pseuds/Leapyearbaby29
Summary: The girls have noticed that Emily has been acting distant. But what for? She leaves early from school and avoids them at all costs, but why? The girls decide to follow Emily one day and follow her to an abandoned warehouse. They listen in and hear her talking to someone. What are they talking about? Who are they? Oh what is their sweet Emily hiding? Credit to @aemstar for the story title! Go check out her amazing Emison Stories on Fanfiction.net!Author's Note: I started writing this on my 3 1/2 canoe trip in Canada so the rest of my ideas have escaped from my head. So what is written is what I have for the time being. I'll try to come up with more depending on if anyone reads this and if I have ideas that come to me. Thank you!Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars or any of the characters. But I so wish I did! I only own the characters I made up.





	1. Chapter 1: What is Emily Hiding?

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story and has been an idea that has been muddling around in my head and I finally got it down on paper, well, on the computer. I hope you enjoy it! :) - Munro McLaren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily's hiding a secret, and the girls want to find out what it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first story and has been an idea that has been muddling around in my head and I finally got it down on paper, well, on the computer. I hope you enjoy it! :) - Munro McLaren

"Has anyone noticed anything different about Emily?" Hanna asked as she sat down at the girls usual lunch table in the Rosewood High's courtyard. 

"Yeah, I have." Alison said, nodding her head, while dipping one of her baby carrots she was eating, into some ranch dressing.

"Now that you mention it, I have too." Spencer agreed after she had swallowed her food.

"Me too." Aria responds, taking a bite of her sandwich she brought for lunch that day.

"Yeah, she's been looking at her phone constantly and sometimes her face turns pale while she's checking it." Hanna told them. 

"You guys don't think it's -A do you?" Alison asked them in a hushed whisper. The girls looked at each other automatically, almost like they knew what the other was thinking. 

"If it is -A, don't you think Emily would tell us?" Aria asked them. The girls shared another look. 

"She wouldn't tell us anything if it would endanger us or if she's hiding something. Both are very likely." Spencer reasons, always the logical one.

"Then let's follow her after school. I heard her on the phone earlier talking to someone telling them to meet her in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. We can follow her there." Hanna tells the others, laying out a plan. 

"Okay, but can we tell—oh hey Emily!" Spencer says quickly, cutting herself off on what she was about to ask, exchanging a few quick glances to the other girls. 

"Hey guys!" Emily greets them. 

"Hey Emily." They all reply, greeting their brunette friend.

"I was just going to stop by and say hi to you guys. I can't stay for lunch. I have a meeting to get to that I can't miss! More important than the test I'm supposed to be studying for!" Emily laughs. The others laugh along also, albeit a little nervously. "Anyways, what were you all just talking about?" Emily asks. Hanna just shrugs, not trusting herself to talk in case she blurted out what they were planning to do. Emily narrows her eyes at her, she then just shakes her head and says, "Well, I have to, uh....head out, yeah." Emily says looking at her phone more than once. 

"Well, we won't keep you waiting." Aria says, glancing inconspicuously at the other girls. 

"Okay, thanks guys! Please tell Mrs. Burke that I had an appointment!" Emily says. 

"Sure thing!" Alison responds back. Emily leaves their table, heading towards the doors and then takes a right heading towards the front doors of the school, the girls watching her until she was out of sight. Once she was out of sight, they all turned around and looked at each other. Spencer broke the silence, saying, 

"Well, I guess Mrs. Burke will just have to wait. We need to follow Emily. Let's go!" The other girls acknowledge Spencer with a quick nod of their heads. They all gather their belongings and hurry to Spencer's SUV, courtesy of her parents, not wanting to lose Emily. Spencer's SUV fits 8 comfortably, so with only the four girls, it was very spacious and allowed for plenty of leg room. The SUV also had a built in GPS and everything. Very useful when you had a crazy stalker named -A after you. The girls all piled into the SUV. Spencer was up front driving, Aria in the passenger seat and Alison and Hanna in the back seats. Spencer puts the keys into the ignition and started the car. She drove out of the parking lot and onto the main road like she in the Fast and Furious.

"Jeez Spencer, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to show Paul Walker up!" Hanna teased. 

"At least I'm not as bad as your grandma! She almost killed us going around that corner! I'm pretty sure only two wheels were on the ground when we took the corner!" Spencer exclaimed back, also remembering what she calls, her near death experience, though Hanna begs to differ.

"Hey, that was one time. She even tried flirting with the police officer who pulled her over!" Hanna laughed, remembering back to when her grandma had tried to flirt her way out of receiving a speeding ticket. It didn't work. 

"Your grandma sure is something else." Alison said, laughing along with the others. After laughing and reminiscing the time where Hanna's grandmas almost killed them all, they sat in a comfortable silence. Spencer could just make out Emily's silver Toyota Corolla. Spencer followed Emily's car down the main road. As they were driving, all the girls had the same question bouncing around in their heads. What was Emily hiding? They hoped that as they followed Emily, their questions would get answered.

30 minutes later:

"How much longer until we get there?" Hanna whined. Spencer gripped the steering wheel tighter, her knuckles turning white in the process. 

"I don't know Hanna! Why don't you call Emily and ask her, considering WE'RE THE ONES FOLLOWING HER!" Spencer snapped back through gritted teeth. 

"Okay jeez, I was just asking a damn question! Calm you tits Spencer." Hanna quipped back. 

"Okay, everybody needs to take a deep breath," Aria instructed, trying to ease the tension that was almost palpable in the car, "we don't need to get stressed. We really to be relaxed because whatever Emily is hiding is obviously big, considering the fact that we're following her to find out what it is. And we can't be stressed out when we learn what it is. It wouldn't do us any good." Aria said softly but firmly. Aria always knew the right thing to say at just the right time. She was like the peace keeper of the group and would calm everyone down when everyone was getting stressed out and on each other's nerves. Without her, it would be like World War III between the other girls with them arguing over the stupidest things you can imagine.

"Aria is right. Whatever Emily is hiding is important. She's been avoiding all of us like we're the plague. I really don't want to blow up at her because I'm too stressed when she won't even be the cause of it." Alison replied, knowing how sensitive her mermaid was. Just thinking about what secret Emily could be hiding from them was making Alison's heart clench. She really cared for Emily and she was praying that whatever Emily is hiding is not anything serious. She doesn't know what she would do without her Killer. 

"Well then, I'm sorry Hanna for blowing up at you, I'm just scared about what Emily is keeping from all of us. And so to answer your question Hanna, I don't know how much longer until we get there, but I'm sure we'll get there shortly." Spencer says. 

"I'm sorry too Spence, I should have realized that you have no way of telling if we're almost there because we don't know." Hanna apologizes back. 

"It's okay. We're all a little stressed because of the -A situation and now not knowing what Emily is hiding from us, and we all just need to relax." Spencer answered back. The girls then fell into another comfortable silence and looked out the windows—with the exception of Spencer, who was driving—at the scenery passing by.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are enjoying the story so far! Comment, share, kudos or don't. No pressure. I just hope you are enjoying this story and want to read more! :) - Munro McLaren


	2. Chapter 2: Emily's Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is Emily hiding? You might find that out now or, well you're just going to have to read it to find out. My lips are sealed! :) - Munro McLaren

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are enjoying this story! :)

30 minutes later, the girls see Emily's   
silver Toyota Camry pull into the parking lot of what looks like an abandoned warehouse, just like Hanna heard Emily say over the phone. Since they didn't want to be seen by Emily, Spencer parked her car behind some trees that had overgrown and provided a nice shelter and a hiding spot for the car. The girls unbuckled their seat belts and get out of the car just in time to see Emily slip into a doorway into the deserted building.

"She went through that doorway over there." Spencer whispered to the others, not wanting to be heard by Emily. The girls quietly sneak through the door in which Emily went through earlier. They entered into a hallway that split off in two directions.

"Which way did she go?" Hanna asked the others.

"Hanna, we were all together when she went inside, none of us know." Aria said back in a hushed voice.

"Well, which way should we go?" Hanna asked. "Personally, I vote Eenie Meenie Miney Mo." Hanna remarks.

"Really Hanna? Eenie Meenie Miney Mo? What are we, in kindergarten?" Alison retorted back.

"Well, do you have a better plan Miss-Plan-Hater?" Hanna jibed back.

"Guys!" Aria whispered-shouted, "We have bigger problems here than figuring out what game we play to consider what direction we go in. We need to stop arguing over petty things and figure this out as a team."

"Aria's right guys, we need to figure this out fast, because what time we're taking talking about which direction we go in, is time Emily has doing whatever we're trying to find out. And we can't afford to lose her." Spencer said. The other nodded, agreeing with Spencer silently.

"Okay, now that we're calmer, we should split off into two's. Spencer and I will go down this hallway," Aria pointed toward the right, "and Alison and Hanna, you guys will go in the left hallway. Does that sound like a plan?" Aria asked everyone. Everyone confirmed Aria's plan with a quiet 'yes.' Before any pair was able to head in the direction of their assigned hallways, a light flashed across the wall of the left hallway. The girls froze and looked at each other, silently having a conversation with their eyes. Spencer and Aria, who had been heading in the right hallway, quietly made their way towards Alison and Hanna. Once they regrouped, they began quietly making their way down the left hallway, stopping just short of where you would turn. They all placed their backs to the wall. Alison, who was the closest to the corner, inched her head around the corner. From what Alison could see, was there was a bunch of discarded boxes that they could hide behind. This would let them be closer to where Emily was, or where they all assumed she was, and would be able to hear what she was doing. Alison brought her had back around the corner and looked at the others. The others were looking at her expectantly.

"From what I could see, there are some boxes that make sort of a barrier between us and the rest of what looks like a big manufacturing room. We can hide behind those boxes so we can hear and see what Emily is doing." Alison breathed out quietly.

"Okay, so on the count of three, we will run as quietly as possible behind those boxes," Spencer said glancing at the other to make sure they were all on the same page. They all nodded their heads, "1.....2.....3!" Spencer counted. They all dashed as fast as they could but also trying to stay as quiet as they could. Once they were all behind the boxes, they could make out through the cracks between each individual box, Emily standing with what looked like a man version of Emily. 

"Is it just me, or does the guy Emily is talking to look eerily similar to Emily?" Hanna murmured to the others.

"It's not just you Hanna, we all see the similarities." Spencer uttered back, a little bit in shock in how much the guy looked like their beloved friend.

"Did Emily's mom pop out another kid that we didn't know about?" Hanna asked.

"Really Hanna? I think Emily would have told us if she had a sibling." Aria said back.

"Well, obviously not," Hanna shot back, "We're looking at Emilio Fields right now!"

"Emilio Field?" Alison asked, laughing softly.

"Well duh," Hanna voiced out, "Emily is the girl version and Emilio is the boy version of Emily." Hanna said smiling, sounding quite proud of herself.

"Okay as nice as this conversation is about girl Emily and boy Emily, can we get back to what we had planned on originally doing? Spying on Emily." Spencer quietly asked. Hanna and Alison stopped bickering between each other, though it was more like mouthing more then actual bickering considering the fact that Emily was right on the other side of the box wall they were behind and could very well overhear them. The girls each put their faces to a crack so they could see what Emily and the mystery guy, who they, well Hanna had now dubbed, Emilio, were doing.

"Sorry I'm late. Traffic was heavy where I was coming from. You'd expect in the middle of the day for traffic to be light, but sadly nope." Mystery guy said, laughing a little.

"It's fine. I just feel bad for lying to my friends. I mean I've been avoiding them like they have the plague and I think they're starting to suspect that something is up." Emily quietly sit back.

"Well, you could always just, I don't know, tell them!" Mystery guy exclaimed. He really didn't know why Emily was so against telling her friends. If her friends knew, she would have better protection, he reasons. But no, Emily always shut him down when he brings it up, which he is expecting to happen right now.

"Ashton, I already told you, no!" Emily spoke out, a little loudly, as her voiced echoed against the metal walls of the warehouse, "I don't know how they would take it. I'm still wrapping my head around it even though it has been 3 almost 4 years."

"I know, I get what you're saying, I really do," Ashton conversed, "it's just that, it would give you more protection and they wouldn't have to find out by a second source." Emily narrowed her eyes at him. 

"Are you saying you would go behind my back and tell them?!" Emily cried out.

"What?! No! I'm just saying would you rather tell your friends yourself, or leave this -A person to tell them instead?" Ashton asked her, laying out what could possibly happen if Emily didn't tell her friends. Emily was silent. Ashton could see the internal battle she was having within her head, the imaginary angel and devil on each of her shoulders, the devil taunting her and telling her not to, the angel telling Emily to tell her friends. Ashton knew that whatever Emily did, though, he would stick by her side. 

"Maybe." Emily finally said, breathing out. Ashton could see that Emily was still conflicted on whether or not to tell her friends. But at least Emily didn't say, no. Ashton thought. This was a start. 

"That's all I ask." Ashton said back, happy that they were somewhat on the same page.

"Okay, so now can you take me to your house? I really can't wait much longer. It's been so long." Emily said quickly, practically bouncing around where she stood. Ashton laughed at the childish behavior Emily was showing.

"Yes, my car is out back. You parked in the front I saw. We can either both go in my car, each of us go in our separate cars, or both of us go in your car." Ashton offered, giving Emily the choice in how they would get to Ashton's house.

"Um I let's go in two separate cars. This is a sketchy part of town and I don't want to leave my car overnight in this parking lot." Emily told Ashton.

"Yeah sure, that's fine." Ashton remarked back. He and Emily turned to exit the building. The girls realized that they were between the exit and Emily and Ashton. They heard them walking towards them, their footsteps getting louder and louder with every step they took. The girls inched their way around the boxes, making sure that they were never in the line of sight of either Emily or Ashton. Once the girls heard Emily's and Ashton's footsteps receding down the hallways, they all breathed out a sigh of relief. But it was far from over. They all looked at each other. 

"Well Hanna, his name definitely is not Emilio." Alison snickered, trying to dissipate the tension, that was almost tangible, in the air.

"No, but he is hot!" Hanna exclaimed back excitedly.

"In a sense, you're basically calling Emily hot too, because they look almost like twins." Aria teased back, her face giving off a small smirk.

"I'm not gonna lie, Emily definitely is hot, but I don't play for that team." Hanna remarked back, a smirk matching that of Aria's. Spencer and Alison just rolled their eyes.

"Well, let's get going. We can't afford to lose them now." Spencer said. They all retreated back into the hallway in which they had come in through and walked out the door. They walked back to Spencer's car and quickly got in. Everyone buckled up and Spencer started the ignition. They saw what they guessed to be Ashton's car pulling out of the abandoned warehouse's parking lot and Emily's silver Toyota not too far behind it. Staying a safe enough distance behind Emily's car, they followed her car and Ashton's car past pastures, forests and mountains for about one, maybe two hours until coming to a town that looked awfully wealthy. After about 30 minutes of driving past what looked like the Hampton's Jr., they saw Ashton's car and Emily's car pull into a driveway. The driveway leads to what looked like a mansion.

"Holy shit!" Hanna blurted out, "this guy's hot and rich! The perfect combination for yours truly!" Hanna voiced out her thoughts, a smirk adorning her face while making a hand movement towards herself. The others just laughed.

"Hanna, might I remind you that you have a boyfriend already? Does Caleb Rivers ring a bell to you?" Alison laughed. 

"I know, I know, but a girl can dream, can't she?" Hanna retorted back, sighing a little dramatically and looking back towards the house.

"Pull up here Spencer." Aria said, pointing to a parking space that wouldn't make it too obvious that this was Spencer's car if by some reason Emily recognizes the black SUV. Spencer pulled up where Aria had pointed to and put the car into shift and then turned the car off, pulling the keys out of the ignition. The girls all unbuckled their seat belts and got out of the car. Once they were all on the sidewalk that lined each side of the road, the girls stretched their muscles.

"Fuck, my back hurts." Hanna whined while stretching and rubbing her back, which wasn't relieving the stress and tightness her muscles felt. 

"I feel you," Alison exhaled loudly. Her muscles felt like they were on fire. Sitting in Spencer's SUV for that long did a number on her back. Everyone was feeling the same way, all of them trying to relieve the stiffness and stress each of them fell in their backs.

"Let's go up the neighbor's yard and cut through to the house Emily and Ashton went inside. That way, we'll avoid being seen and we can find a spot to look in from." Aria said once she felt like her back was at least 95% relieved of its stress. The girls sneaked into the neighboring house's yard and trekked along to the back, where conveniently, there was a gate that lead to the house Emily and Ashton had entered. Spencer opened the gate and they all crossed over into the other yard. Once they were all in the yard, they crouched down so they wouldn't be seen. They slowly moved across the lawn, making sure they were close to the house. While sneaking over, Spencer had seen a window on the side of the house that she thought might give them a view into the massive house. She looked up slightly from where she was walking and spotted it just a few feet in front of her. Spencer turned to the others and used hand motions to convey what she could not say in words in fear of somebody hearing them. The girls all understood what Spencer was trying to wordlessly say though dramatic and humorous hand gestures. Content when they all nodded their heads yes, that they understood, Spencer turned back around and covered the last few feet until they were crouching below a big window that stretched at least 6 feet high and 3 feet across. Spencer poked her head up just enough to take in the surroundings of the interior of the house, but not enough that she would be seen immediately. Spencer saw Emily and Ashton by the doorway into what looked like the living room area, which the window Spencer was peering into from, was in. She could see that Ashton had his arm wrapped around a woman, who Spencer assumed was his significant other. Emily was standing if front of them and they looked like they were talking about something slightly serious. Once Spencer thought she had seen enough, she ducked her head back down and turned to face the other girls. Hanna was making a face that looked like she was saying, "Well?" Spencer rolled her eyes. 

"From what I could see, Emily and Ashton are having a pretty serious conversation, judging by the looks on their faces. There is a woman with them also, which I presumed to be Ashton's girlfriend because he had his arm wrapped around her," Spencer looked at Hanna when she said this, laughing slightly, the others laughing slightly too, when Hanna scoffed and narrowed her eyes, "the window that we're under looks into the living room area I think. We call all fit and look in, but we have to make sure we don't get caught." Spencer told them, again looking at Hanna when she said this. Hanna noticed that Spencer looked at her when she was finishing her last sentence and her eyes widened and then narrowed them.

"What are you looking at me for? It's not my fault that we got caught spying on Ms. Princeton and Mr. Hughes." Hanna scoffed.

"Um, yeah, it was Hanna. Your stomach started grumbling so loudly, I'm pretty sure people in Australia heard you." Aria chuckled, remembering what had happened when they decided to try and spy on two of their teachers. It didn't end very well.

"I missed breakfast that day." Hanna whined remembering back to when her stomach had gotten them all caught. She had a feeling that the others would bring it up one day and here they were bringing it up and teasing Hanna.

"Well breakfast or not we need to get back to spying. God that honestly sounds so bad. We shouldn't be called Pretty Little Liars, we should be called Pretty Little Spies." Alison remarked back and chuckling slightly, Hanna laughing along with her. The girls then turned their attention to the window. Aria was on the far left, then Hanna, Alison in the middle and then Spencer on the far right. They all slowly poked their heads above the window sill and peered in through the window. Their eyes widened at the sight they saw. So that was Emily's secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was Chapter 2! Comment what you want to see in future chapters. But be aware that I've already posted 12 chapters on other sights so anything you want to see happen will happen in Chapter 13 and onward. - Munro McLaren


	3. Chapter 3: Secret Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls learn what Emily's secret is and are baffled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are enjoying this story! Now on to Chapter 3!

**Inside the house:**

"Where is she?" Emily asked Ashton, pacing around the room in anticipation.

"Ashley just went up to get her. She was taking a nap. All the excitement got to her and she tuckered out." Ashton chortled. Ashley was Ashton's maid, but she also served as another purpose. Emily was getting really antsy. This would be the fourth time that she would see her. Oh how she missed her.

The sound of footsteps descending the stairs broke Emily out of her thoughts. She turned around and immediately happy tears sprung to her eyes. There in the arms of Ashley, wriggling around trying to escape Ashley's hold was Estella, her daughter. Once Ashley –who's other purpose was being a nanny for Estella– had descended the whole way down, she placed Estella on the floor and stepped back and stood next to Ashton and his girlfriend, to watch the heartfelt reunion between Emily and her daughter.

"Estella!" Emily cried out, tears falling down her cheeks. She crouched down and opened her arms up and saw Estella running towards her with the small legs she had. Ashton and his girlfriend Katie also had tears in their eyes while watching this heartwarming reunion.

"Mommy!" Estella squealed happily, launching herself into her mother's arms, kissing Emily all over her face and receiving some of her own kisses from Emily in return.

"How is my little girl?" Emily asked looking down at Estella who had now made herself comfortable in her mother's arms.

"Good!" Estella grinned happily up at Emily, showing off a toothy smile. Estella was wearing a pair of overalls that had a picture of a dog sewn onto the front chest and a pink long sleeved shirt underneath them. Emily admired her darkened, dirty blonde locks that curled at the ends and her warm mocha brown eyes. When Estella didn't get her way for something, her eyes would turn an extremely dark brown, almost black, but not quite. She definitely had her mother's eyes.

(This was honestly the only picture I thought could portray Estella, even if she doesn't have brown eyes in the picture.)

**Back outside with the girls:**

All the girls were in shock of what they had just learned. Emily, their sweet, innocent, Emily had a daughter. Now they all had even more questions.

"Wowwww!" Hanna exclaimed shocked, elongating the word 'wow' to put emphasis on it, "I never would have guessed this to be Emily's secret."

"Me neither." Aria said, expressing her thoughts about the situation at hand.

"Even though I'm equally shocked as the rest of you, I'm just glad that Emily's secret wasn't like she murdered someone or anything." Alison said.

"Well her nickname is Killer...." Hanna said slowly, trying to make a joke at the situation.

Alison narrowed her eyes at Hanna. "Finish that sentence, I dare you." Alison threatened. Hanna just rolled her eyes. She knew Alison was overprotective of Emily. She swears that something is going on between the two of them, but nothing has happened out of the ordinary to raise suspicion. Alison is kinda jealous of the man because he seems very important to Emily. She knows she's important to Emily but she wishes she were the only one. She is faintly aware of Emily's crush on her. Which Emily doesn't know. The girls turn back to the window. The next words they hear practically break their hearts.

"Mommy, are you staying dis time?" Emily looks up and the girls see a guilty look on her face. She looks at Ashton. They see Ashton nod his head toward the child while saying something. Emily nods and looks down at Estella again.

**Back inside the house:**

Emily knows she has to choose her words carefully because Estella can pick up on lies, like Alison, which is ironic because this isn't even her child. But Estella is very intuitive. She asks a lot of questions that sometimes Emily can't even answer herself. Long story short Estella was way smarter than Emily was at this age, and Emily has Ashton and his girlfriend and sometimes nanny/maid to thank for that.

"Estella, I know I always leave, but remember, I will ALWAYS," Emily puts emphasis on the word 'always', "come back for you. But right now, there are a lot of things going on that could endanger you."

"What does endanger mean mommy?" Estella asks innocently, gazing up at Emily. Emily looks up at Ashton, silently asking for help. Ashton saw Emily's silently asking for help and stepped in and answered for her. He kneeled down in front of the little girl, who's eyes were full of curiosity.

"Well GE (Great Expectations), endanger means when you put someone else in harms way. It can be done unintentionally, meaning the person or persons didn't mean to, or it can be done intentionally, meaning on purpose. Your mommy, doesn't want anything to happen to you. So she doesn't want to endanger you." Ashton says slowly, in order for the young girl to understand what he is saying. Estella might be young, but she is a very bright and curious child so Ashton has to worries that Estella won't understand what he is saying. Emily smiled at Ashton and then looked down at Estella, who was staring up at her with love in her eyes.

"Hey GE, why don't you tell your mommy what you can say now." Ashton offers, smiling knowingly. Estella looks up at Ashton and grins back, then turns back to Emily. Ashton puts his hand into his back pocket and pull out a picture and hands it to Estella. Estella takes it from Ashton's hand and hold it up for Emily to see. Emily looks at it and frowns slightly. She remember clearly, the memory of when this picture was taken. But how did Ashton have it in his possession?

"Where did you get this picture? It was on my bulletin board in my room." Emily asked, a frown still planted on her face, though you could see the corners of her mouth beginning to sweep upwards into a smile because the picture held important memories to her.

Ashton looks smirks and says, "Let's just say, you're a very light sleeper." Emily frowns and glares at Ashton. If looks could kill, Ashton thought.

"I already have a someone to deal with who does things like that, I don't need you to do it too!" Emily says. She avoids saying -A because she knows Estella will take the first chance she gets and ask Emily who -A is. Estella who was watching the exchange between her mother and Ashton, turns back to the photo. The photo is of the five girls. They are lying on their stomachs and are smiling and grinning widely at the camera.

Estella points to a short girl with hazel eyes and shoulder length, brown hair. "That's Aria," She then points to a tall brunette with brown eyes, "That's Spencer," Then she points to a blonde, blue eyed, girl. The girls Emily is secretly in love with. "that's Awison."

"Estella can't pronounce her 'L's' just yet but she's been practicing with me." Ashton said in response to Estella's mispronunciation of Alison's name. Emily nodded to Ashton in understanding and looked back at Estella. Estella then excitedly pointed to another girl. This girl had mocha skin and dark, brown hair, her eyes a warm, chocolate brown.

"That's you mommy!" Estella squealed happily, her smiling growing larger in her face.

Emily laughed and said, "Yes it is Estella." Estella then pointed to the last girl. This girl had blonde hair and also had blue eyes, but her eyes weren't as blue and her hair was shorter and not as wavy as Alison's.

"And that's Hanna." Estella stated proudly.

"Good job!" Emily congratulated Estella. Estella smiled widely, happy that her mommy was proud of her.

**Back outside with the girls:**

The girls looked at each other. They were touched that the man had shown Estella a picture of them. But they really wanted to know who the man was and what his relationship with Emily was, well Alison was wondering that. She wanted to be the most important person in Emily's life. They knew the little girl was Emily's daughter, but seriously, Emily? The shy and timid brunette who couldn't even kiss her boyfriend in front of everyone without blushing, having a daughter? They just could wrap their pretty little minds around it.

"Awww! She couldn't pronounce Alison's name correctly! That is so adorable!" Hanna squealed, overwhelmed with the cuteness of what just took place.

"I'm touched that Emily has shown pictures of us to her daughter. We obviously mean a lot to Emily if she showing her daughter who we are." Spencer infers. They all know they mean a lot to Emily, but they didn't know just how much they meant to her.

"She kinda looks a little like Ali, doesn't she?" Aria asked, putting out what the others were thinking, but hadn't verbalized yet.

"Yeah she does. Though her hair is darker than Ali's, and she has Emily's skin complexion." Hanna said, looking at the little girl through the window. Though her skin wasn't as nearly as dark as her mother's, it was still tanner then most.

"What do you think Ali? Doesn't she kinda look like a mini Ali 2.0?" Aria slyly remarked, "I mean her facial structure is kinda the same as yours when you were a little girl, Ali."

Alison who had been deep in thought, shook her head and looked at Aria. "Um, yeah, she sorta does." Alison said not really focusing on the little girl. Her mind was being taken over by a certain brown haired, beauty.

"You don't sound sure. Take a look. She looks almost identical to you when you were younger." Spencer said, guiding Alison to the window so she could take a look. Alison peered in the window and looked at the little girl who was no playing around with Emily on the ground. Alison started smiling, loving how happy Emily looked. She hadn't looked happy these past few days and now they knew why. Emily had been missing her daughter. As Alison took in the features of Estella, she started to notice what the other girls were talking about, but also noticed that not everything they said was accurate. Even though Estella's hair wasn't exactly the same color as Alison's, the ringlets that curled at the bottom, were just like what Alison's hair when she was a young child, even now. Alison couldn't quite see her eyes though, but from where she was, her eyes didn't look blue. In fact, the only part of the little girl's body that look remotely like Alison was the structure of her face. A sort of heart shaped face, rosy, red cheeks that had a dimple on either side, a cute little button nose and two small lips that were moving because she was talking. Alison ducked her head back down and turned to face the other girls. "She doesn't look exactly like me, but you're sorta right." Alison breathed out, her head full of confusion on how Estella looks a little like what she looked like as a child. She shook it off as a coincidence.

"Are you sure you and Emily haven't had sex and she got prego?" Hanna asked with absolutely no tact whatsoever. The other three girls turned their heads toward Hanna, their eyes widened.

"What?!" Alison almost screeched, but didn't, being mindful of the fact that they were technically trespassing and could get caught at any moment, "first of all Hanna, we're both girls, I can't get her pregnant, second of all, Emily is so shy she blushes starts to stutter the moment anyone starts talking about sex. Do you really think that she would climb into bed with me and take the VIP tour to Neverland?" Alison asked, a little blush adorning her cheeks when she said the last sentence. Hanna saw this and smirked. When Alison saw Hanna smirk, she narrowed her eyes at her, but Hanna merely pretended she didn't notice Alison's glare.

"Well clearly she already has," Hanna said, gesturing toward the window, trying to point towards Estella without getting caught.

"Maybe she didn't have consensual sex," Spencer starts, "maybe she was...." Spencer whispered trailing off on last part of the sentence knowing that the girls understood what she was about to say and what the word held. The girls all looked at each other. If Emily had been sexually assaulted, they couldn't imagine why she didn't go to any of them for help, though it looks like she went to Ashton for help, whoever he is. They all were saddened by the fact that Emily may very well have been sexually assaulted and they didn't even notice anything wrong with her. But if there was one thing they could do, it was to help Emily in anyway, shape or form, with Estella. And hopefully, Emily would tell them the story behind Estella, Ashton, his girlfriend and the nanny/maid. They had overheard Emily telling Ashton that she wants to bring Estella home for while, her parents were in Texas, so they didn't have to worry about them finding out just yet. Ashton reluctantly agreed with the condition that he and his girlfriend would stay with them.

The girls realized that the should be heading home soon. It had been a long day and they had about an hour and a half drive home. The girls all quietly sneak away back through the gate to the neighbors yard to Spencer's SUV. Spencer unlocked the car and they all climbed in and buckled up. Spencer puts the keys into the ignition and started up the car. They had all agreed on heading to Emily's house.

They wanted to get answers and more importantly, they wanted to meet their new niece. After Hanna made a sly remark about how her, Spencer and Aria wanted to meet their niece, but Alison was going to meet her future daughter, Alison took it upon her self to slap Hanna in the arm, very hard, may I add, while Hanna was laughing at Alison's reaction. Aria and Spencer trying to keep in their laughter. They ultimately failed and burst out laughing at Alison's expense. Alison just crossed her arms and huffed out a breath of air, a light blush gracing her face. Hanna noticed it and pointed it out saying she had never seen the Queen Bee blush so much, to which Alison's blush grew a little darker while the three other girls lightly teased her. After the laughter had died down to a minimal giggle here and there, they were on their way to Emily's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter! Comment what you think will happen next! :)


	4. Chapter 4: The Girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls wait for Emily to return and talk about what they are going to say to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 4! Enjoy! :)

The girls were sitting in Emily's living room waiting for her to arrive back home.

"God, how long does it take for Emily to get her ass over here?! We've been waiting for like 2 hours." Hanna complained. Spencer rolled her eyes at Hanna's childish behavior.

"Well, it took close to 2 hours to get there and we left before she was done talking, so she should be here soon. Now stop complaining, we need to figure out what we are going to say to Emily when she walks through that door." Spencer explained.

"Can we talk in the kitchen, I'm hungry." Hanna groaned while rubbing her stomach. They'd been on the road for at least 6 hours today and the last thing she ate was lunch.

"You're always hungry Hanna." Alison replied back, a small smirk playing at the edges of her lips. Hanna just glared at Alison when she said this, Alison pretending not to notice.

"Yes, Hanna, we can converse in the kitchen." Spencer answered back, rolling her eyes once again at Hanna's behavior.

"Converse? Isn't that a shoe company?" Hanna asked confused. Aria slapped her hand to her forehead in disbelief.

"Yes and no Hanna. Converse is a shoe company, but the word also means to talk, as in like a conversation. Have you really never heard the word before?" Spencer asked laughing, her curiosity peaking. Hanna seriously sometimes acted like the stereotype people had labeled 'blonde', even though Hanna was actually very smart and the stereotype is not accurate.

"I probably have, but I forgot." Hanna explained like it was no big deal. She was always remembering and forgetting things. She started in the direction of the kitchen, the others following her. The Fields' kitchen had an island table in the center and four wooden stools placed on one side of it. Alison, Spencer and Aria each sat down on one of the stools while Hanna walked around opening cupboards looking for food.

"Jeez, you'd expect for an athlete like her, she'd have any food around here." Hanna said while looking around trying to find anything that would make her stomach happy.

"Hanna, I don't think she expected us to be raiding her cupboards, therefore she has only bought enough food for herself." Aria explained to Hanna.

"Jackpot!" Hanna exclaimed while reaching into the cupboard and bringing out a box of Ritz crackers and a bag Cheetos.

"Never mind." Aria sighed, rolling her eyes. Hanna brought the snacks over to the island table. Spencer, Alison and Aria dug into the snacks while Hanna went into the refrigerator to look for something for them to drink. Hanna came back with a liter of Coca-Cola and four cups. She poured each of them a glass and passed it to them.

"Thanks, Hanna."

"Yeah, thanks."

Thank you, Hanna," came three responses, all thanking her for pouring them a drink. While they ate the snacks that Hanna found, they started to talk about what to ask Emily when she arrived.

"I don't think we should interrogate her as soon as she gets here. I mean she seems already pretty stressed out and I don't want to add to it." Alison stated.

"I second that," Spencer replied while munching on a Cheetos, "if we want answers, we can't be jumping on her right as she walks in the door."

"Well, at least not to us, maybe Alison." Hanna said under breath, a little smirk playing on her lips. Though she tried to keep it quiet, it was obvious everyone heard what she said when three pairs of eyes widened. "What?" Hanna asked innocently.

"I'm not going to jump Emily's bones when she walks in the door." Alison scowled at Hanna. "I don't like Emily like that."

"You keep on telling yourself that Blondie. I see the way she looks at you and you're looking right back at her." Hanna answered back, her smirk growing bigger as they bickered back and forth. Alison just narrowed her eyes at Hanna and didn't respond. Hanna had observed Emily's body language around Alison for a while now and had come to the conclusion that their sweet Emily had a crush on Alison. Then she started noticing Alison looking at Emily too sometimes, but not as often. Hanna isn't exactly sure whether or not Alison has a small crush on Emily or if it's just admiration. So she resorts to teasing Alison a little, hoping to get some answers out of her.

"Okaaay," Spencer drawled out, trying to change the subject and ease the tension in the room, "I think we should sit Emily down and ask her a few simple questions. Like for example, who is the little girl? And, is this why you have been avoiding us? Can we help? Stuff like that." Spencer listed off to them.

"But we already know who the little girl is." Hanna answered back.

"I know, but we only know that she's Emily's daughter, nothing more. There obviously has to be a story behind this." Spencer pointed out. The others nodded their heads in agreement, Hanna realizing that Spencer was right.

"Okay, so then what? What if she gets mad at us for snooping around? What if she doesn't want our help?" Aria asked. Those were the questions everyone was thinking but didn't want to think about. They all really wanted to help Emily with little Estella and they really don't want Emily to get angry with them for snooping on her.

"Then we tell her that we're helping her because we're her friends and we wouldn't just not help her, even if she says 'no'." Alison replied. The others agreed, all except Spencer, who had her head tilted towards the direction of the front door.

"Spencer....you okay there?" Hanna asked.

"Shh....I think they just drove up." Spencer whispered back, trying to see if she could hear any sound of movements. The girls heard talking in the front yard.

Spencer turned to the other three girls and asked, "So we all know what we're going to say to Emily, right?" The other three girls nodded their heads in unison, "Okay get ready for this." Spencer said, sucking in a huge breath of air and exhaling it quietly, hoping that this conversation that was about to take place went smoothly. They heard the front door open and they heard more than one voice. The kitchen was in such a position that whoever walked through the door could not see the occupants in the kitchen. The girls could hear Emily's voice and a voice that sounded like the man Emily met up with in the warehouse, Ashton, whoever he was.

**In the living room:**

Emily opened the door to her house and stepped through the doorway, Ashton, who was holding Estella, and his girlfriend, close behind. They hung up their jackets and headed to the living room area. Once Emily had sat down, Ashton handed her Estella, who had been trying to free herself from Ashton's hold to get to her mother. Once Estella was comfortable in Emily's arms, she looked up at Emily.

"Mommy, do you have a special friend?" Estella asked innocently. Emily started blushing, wondering where the heck that question came from and looked up and glared at Ashton, who had taken a seat next to his girlfriend on the sofa.

"Estella, remember what I told you?" Ashton said, while his lips pointed up into a smirk. He knew he shouldn't try and provoke Estella, but teasing and seeing Emily blush was so much fun. Estella had asked what a 'special friend' was while they were driving to Emily's house. Not one to deny the little girl, he and his girlfriend, Katie had explained to the little girl what a 'special friend' was. He had a feeling that once Estella was with Emily, she would take the first chance she had to ask Emily if she had a 'special friend' even though he had explained to Estella that Emily did, in fact have one.

"Yes, Uncle Awshton. You said and I qwuote, "Mommy has a boyfriend but doesn't like him but don't say that because she's nice and doesn't want to hurt anybody's feelings and she also doesn't want to admit she doesn't like him because she knows why and she like somebody else." Estella blurted out. Emily's eyes widened realizing that what she had told Ashton had been passed on to her daughter by him, even though she clearly told him not to tell anyone. Ashton's smirk grew a little. Emily then narrowed her eyes and when Ashton saw this he gulped, he knew he had had run the risk of getting grilled by Emily, but he wanted to see how far he could go before Emily called him out. It seemed like he had reached her limit.

**In the kitchen:**

The girls are stayed quiet, not wanting to miss anything that was being said. Then girls heard Estella say something.

"Mommy, do you have a special friend?" The girls knew Emily enough to know that she probably was blushing hard. And that she probably looked to one of the other occupants in the room for help. They heard a male voice and assumed Ashton had stepped in and helped an embarrassed Emily.

"Estella, remember what I told you?" They could hear a smirk in his voice and decided that he wasn't going to help Emily and only was provoking Estella even more.

"Yes, Uncle Awshton. You said and I qwuote, "Mommy has a boyfriend, but doesn't like him but don't say that because she's nice and doesn't want to hurt anybody's feelings and she also doesn't want to admit she doesn't like him because she knows why and she like somebody else." The girls looked at each other. Wow was that a mouth full of words for such a little girl. They were all wondering about what Estella said of Emily not liking Ben and her not wanting to admit it. Spencer being the smartest one out of the four of them in the kitchen, figured it out in her head, but decided not to tell the others because this was something Emily had to do herself. Alison also had a suspicion but didn't say anything. Hanna and Aria had something in mind and also didn't share it. They knew this was something their best friend had to have the courage to do herself. And they couldn't make her say it earlier than when she was ready for.

**In the living room:**

Emily was blushing badly. She narrowed her eyes and glared at Ashton.

"Ashton Patrick Fields! What were you thinking when you told Estella all of this, and why did I decide to tell you these things?" She spoke clearly and then grumbled the last bit.

Ashton just smirked and said, "You never said I couldn't tell her."

"So you decided it would be a great idea to tell her some things that I know she will have many questions for and that I'm not ready to come to terms with?!" Emily shouted. Ashton looked guilty for a minute or two and the recomposed himself.

"I'm sorry Em, Estella was just asking about her father and I know you didn't want me to tell her yet, and so I switched the subject and asked her if she knew who a 'special friend' was. She said no so I told her and I guess she wanted to ask you who your 'special friend' is." Ashton apologized.

"It's okay Ashton." "Now you missy, ask way too many questions." Emily directed to Estella.

Estella giggled and said, "Uncle Awshton said I'm very inqwisiative!" Emily laughed lightly when Estella said this.

"I think you mean inquisitive and that you are my dear. You ask way more questions than I did at your age. You even know how to read and I learned when I was 5." Estella smirked, something she had perfected with the help of Ashton and his girlfriend. They called it the Emily 2.0 smirk.

"Well, I am a better-behaved kid then you were. Uncle Awshton told me you once poured maple syrup on his head. You're a bad girl, mommy!" Emily glared at Ashton.

"I think Uncle Ashton failed to tell you that he has sprayed whip cream in my hair and on my dress and smeared whipped butter on my face." Emily then smirked knowing she had gotten Estella back on her side while Ashton frowned. He had to one-up her to get Estella with him again.

"Well GE, your mommy left out that she also ruined my nice Sunday clothes and she had to get a timeout." Ashton smirked big and knew he had gotten her. Estella turned to Emily and hit her lightly in the shoulder.

"Bad mommy, you ruined his cwothes." Estella scolded. Emily gasped and playfully glared at Ashton.  

"I was three, and Ashton was ten, give me some slack!" Emily whined, trying to get some sympathy from Estella.

Estella giggled and said, "Okay, mommy, but I want you to have a punishment." Estella smirked big and Emily groaned. From what she had heard from Ashton, whenever Estella was right or wanted her way she made you do something and you HAD to do it or she would because what Ashton and his girlfriend dubbed Alison 2.0. They had heard about Alison's bitchy ways from Emily and decided that Estella with this attitude was as close to a mini-Alison as you could get. Attitude wise that is.

"Uh oh! If you don't do what she asks Emily, she's going to turn into Alison 2.0." Ashton said playing along with what Estella was saying.

Emily laughed and said, "Alison 2.0? Where did you come up with that?"

"Well, remember how you told us a bunch of stories about your friends?" Ashton asked.

"Yes...." Emily replied, wondering where Ashton was going with this.

"Well, you see I might've put to play what you told me about Alison. Like how when she smirks and raises her eyebrows. Estella can do that perfectly." Ashton said. Emily raises her eyebrows and turns to Estella.

"Is that right?" Emily asked Estella. Estella nodded her head.

"Show her, Estella, we've been practicing." Ashton said when Emily turned to look at him with a confused look on his face. Emily looked at Estella. Estella perfected the smirk and the eyebrow raise almost as well as Alison. Emily was shocked. Ashton laughed at Emily's shocked face.

"I told you she looked like an Alison 2.0!" Estella had this gleam in her eyes and Emily swore that when she looked at Estella in that moment, that she looked exactly like Alison, minus the eyes and hair. Emily shook her head. Her crush on Alison was getting to point where she was all she saw. But then again, Estella did actually look a little like Alison, so it could've been that. Ashton then turned to Emily.

"Hey Em, can I get a drink of water?" Ashton asked Emily.

"Yeah, sure, the kitchen is right on the other side of the foyer when you came in." Emily replied, pointed towards the kitchen.

"Katie, do want something to drink?" Ashton asked his girlfriend.

"No, I'm good, thanks." Katie replied. Ashton nodded his head and headed towards the kitchen.

**In the kitchen:**

"Ashton Patrick Fields! What were you thinking when you told Estella all of this, and who did I decide to tell you these things?" Emily spoke clearly and then grumbled the last bit but the girls still heard her. The girls looked at each other in surprise. They had just learned a little about the mystery man Ashton. He was Emily's sibling. But as far as any of them knew, Emily was an only child. This revelation just gave them more questions. They smirked, knowing Emily was beyond embarrassed. They liked to see their best friend all flustered. It was cute and adorable.

"You never said I couldn't tell her." The girls heard Ashton reply, imagining his smug smile on his face.

"So you decided it would be a great idea to tell her some things that I know she will have many questions for and that I'm not ready to come to terms with?!" They heard Emily respond.

"I'm sorry Em, Estella was just asking about her father and I know you didn't want me to tell her yet, and so I switched the subject and asked her if she knew who a 'special friend' was. She said no, so I told her and I guess she wanted to ask you who your 'special friend' is. It was the first thing that came to my mind.

"It's okay Ashton." Emily sighed, understanding that Ashton was just trying to help her out and not tell Estella who the father was. She knew Estella would want to know who her father was, but she didn't realize that Estella would already start asking at this age.

"Now you missy, ask way too many questions." The girls heard Emily say, realizing she was talking to Estella. They heard Estella giggle.

"Uncle Awshton said I'm very inqwisiative!" They heard Estella say. The girls silently 'awwed' at the cuteness of Estella. They listened more and heard Emily laughing lightly.

"I think you mean inquisitive and that you are. You ask way more questions than I did at your age. You even know how to read and I learned when I was 5."

"Well, I am a better-behaved kid then you were. Uncle Awshton told me you once poured maple syrup on his head. You're a bad girl, mommy!" The girls heard Estella say, they are giggled quietly, loving how adorable Estella was acting.

"I think Uncle Ashton failed to tell you that he has sprayed whip cream in my hair and on my dress and smeared whipped butter on my face." They heard Emily comeback with.

"Well GE, your mommy left out that she also ruined my nice Sunday clothes and she had to get a timeout." The girls could practically hear the smirk on Ashton's face.

"Bad mommy, you ruined his cwothes." They heard Estella reply. They then heard Emily gasp.

"I was 3, Ashton was 10 give me some slack!" The girls heard Emily whine. They heard giggling.

"Okay mommy, but I want you to have a punishment." The four girls heard Estella say, imagining the grin on her face.

"Uh oh! If you don't do what she asks Emily, she's going to turn into Alison 2.0." They heard Ashton remark. The girls looked at each other and Alison has a shocked look on her face.

"Why did he call Estella, Alison 2.0?" Alison asked in a very quiet whisper.

"I don't know." Spencer replied back in a hushed whisper. Hanna and Aria just shrugged, "let's keep listening and maybe we'll find out. They heard Emily laugh.

"Alison 2.0? Where did you come up with that?" They heard Emily ask.

"Well, remember how you told us a bunch of stories about your friends?" They heard Ashton ask.

They heard Emily say, "Yes...."

"Well, you see, I might've put to play what you told me about Alison. Like how when she smirks and raises her eyebrows. Estella can do that perfectly." The four girls heard Ashton explain.

"Is that right?" They heard Emily ask.

"Show her, Estella, we've been practicing." They heard Ashton tell Estella. He sounded pretty proud of what Estella had been practicing. There was a moment of silence that the girls knew was Estella showing Emily what she could do.

"I told you she looked like an Alison 2.0!" They heard Ashton exclaim, breaking the silence that had just been in the house.

"Hey Em, can I get a drink of water?" The girls then heard Ashton ask Emily. The four girls looked at each other, panicked. What were they going to do?

"Yeah, sure, the kitchen is right on the other side of the foyer when you came in." They heard Emily reply.

"Katie, do want something to drink?" They heard Ashton ask, who they assumed was his girlfriend.

"No, I'm good thanks." They heard Katie reply.

Hanna, Alison and Aria looked at Spencer. She was also the one that always came up with the plans. Spencer noticed them looking at her.

"Don't look at me. I didn't come up with an escape plan." Spencer whispered to them. They heard footsteps and realized that Ashton was almost in the kitchen. They decided to play it cool and just look like they were casually eating snacks in Emily's kitchen. They saw Ashton walk into the kitchen and freeze with a deer-in-the-headlights expression. Aria, Hanna, Alison and Spencer just smiled and waved casually, though they were freaking out inside. After Ashton had shocked look, the four girls watched silently as he called into the living room area from the kitchen.

"Hey, Emily....?" He called from the kitchen.

"Yeah?" Emily's voice called from the living room.

"Remember when you said you wanted to wait to tell your friends everything?" Ashton asked, glancing to the girls every so often. He could feel the girl's eyes on him, wondering who he was.

"Yeah...." Emily replied sounding hesitant.

"Well, um, you might want to figure out what to say because....um....well...."

"Just spit it out, Ashton!" Emily called out sounding like she was getting frustrated.

"Your friends are in the kitchen and I don't know how long they've been there!" Ashton said very quickly, in one breath.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 4! See you in Chapter 5! :)


	5. Coming Out

In the living room:

Emily's face had now turned pale. She looked to her left and saw her friends walking into the living room, nervous smiles plastered onto their faces. She was terrified, nervous and scared. Emily wasn't ready to tell her friends everything. But there comes a time where one is asked to do something they're not ready for. Emily guesses that this is her time. The girls stopped just short of where Emily was sitting.

"Mommy, aren't those the girls from the picture?" Estella inquired. Emily looked down at her daughter she held in her arms.

"Um, yes they are." Emily replied in almost a whisper. She was trying to figure out what she was going to say, but it was like her brain went on vacation and left a 'Be Back Soon' sign in her head. Thanks for the help brain, Emily thought to herself sarcastically, mentally scoffing.

"Is one of them your special friend?" Estella asked innocently, looking at the girls and trying to put a name to a face. Emily froze and looked away from her friends. Ashton noticed this and came to the rescue, thankfully.

"Hey GE, why don't we raid Emily's freezer and refrigerator and look for ice cream and chocolate sauce." Ashton said, trying to get the attention away from Emily, though he was sure Emily would be in the spotlight once again once he and Estella left.

"Yeah! I want ice cream wif chocwate sauce!" Estella squealed happily while clapping her tiny little hands together. Estella climbed down from Emily's lap and ran on what little legs she had into the kitchen, Ashton following behind her only when Emily nodded her head, silently conveying that she was okay. Ashton's girlfriend followed after them giving Emily and her friends the privacy they needed. Emily was now left with her friends who were looking at her closely, almost like they were scrutinizing her. She looked away from them.

Alison spoke first, "Emily, we want you to know that whatever you have to say to us, we won't judge you at all." Emily smiled a little at what Alison said, happy to hear that her friends weren't as angry at her as she initially thought they would be. Emily stood up, walked to the stairs and headed up them hoping that her actions spoke for themselves. She was too nervous to actually voice her thoughts. It worked, as the girls looked at each other confused and then realized that Emily wanted more privacy when she told them and followed her upstairs. They walked into Emily's bedroom and found her sitting on her window seat looking at the now darkened sky.

Hanna broke the silence, asking a question with absolutely no tact at all, "Emily, is that really your daughter because you're, well brown hair and brown eyes and she's like, not."

"Hanna!" Three of the five girls in the room exclaimed, looking at their blonde friend as if she had just asked the most absurd question. Which she kinda had.

"What?" Hanna shrugged, not seeing how her question was bad, "I'm just asking."

Emily laughed softly and said, "Yes, Hanna that little bundle of happiness is my daughter, Estella, Estella Lauren Fields. It's actually pretty funny. She kinda has a part of all you guys in her personality." Emily looked up at Hanna, "She has Hanna's wittiness and random thoughts, plus she loves fashion, even though she's three," Emily turned her head to the right and looked at Aria who was on the left of Hanna if you were sitting where Emily was, "she has Aria's compassion and quirkiness," Emily said smiling, she then looked at Spencer, "she has Spencer's intelligence and lastly," Emily looked at Alison, a smile playing at the corners of her lips, "she has Alison's attitude and mischievousness. And then she has her eye-raising and smirking, which I'm sure you heard during that conversation. Thank Ashton for that." Emily rolled her eyes when she said this, Alison just smiled at Emily. When Emily saw this, her cheeks took on a light shade of pink, not very noticeable because of Emily's tan skin, but the four girls standing in front of her could see the discoloration on her face.

"What does she have from you?" Aria asked, the other three girls wondering the same thing.

Emily sat up a little and said, "She has my loyalty and shyness. She may not see shy, but that is because she is around people she's known all her life. When she meets you she is going to be kinda shy. She knows who you all are because we've shown her pictures of you, so she has an idea of who you are. She asks about her 'Aunties' as she calls you, all the time apparently, according to Ashton. But seeing pictures of you and actually meeting you are two different things. So we'll see what happens."

"Who exactly is Ashton?" Hanna asked. They already figured out he was related to Emily, but they wanted to know more about this tan skinned, brown haired, man who Hanna had taken a particular liking to, even though she was dating Caleb and Ashton already seemed to have a girlfriend. Emily turned her head to look at Hanna.

"You'll get more answers when we go downstairs." Emily replied. The only reason she had come upstairs was because she just wanted to be in her room. The four walls giving her a sense of safety and comfort and giving her that last bit of needed courage before she had to go back downstairs and talk and make everything that had happened, all the more real.

Emily replied. "Who's the father?" Spencer asked curiously. Emily, who was about to stand up, froze and sat back down. She looked up at the four girls who were gazing back at her with interest.

"I'm not ready to tell that story. Maybe in a little bit." Emily answered Spencer in almost a whisper. The four girls decided not to question Emily any further on this topic, understanding that this was a sensitive subject for Emily. Alison walked over to the window seat where Emily was sitting and sat down beside her. Alison took Emily hand and held it within her own.

"We are here when you are ready to tell us." Alison said softly, but firmly, telling Emily that they were there to support her every step of the way. Emily looked down at their intertwined hands and blushed. Her stomach did that twisting and tingling thing she always felt when Alison touched her. Emily looked back up at the others.

"I'm ready to tell you guys everything, except who the father is." Emily said, ending in sort of a whisper. The girls nodded their heads in acknowledgment, "I'll tell you what I want to tell you myself in private here and then we can go downstairs and talk with the others. They are a part of this and they can tell parts of the story that I can't tell." Emily said. The girls all nodded.

"We're here for you Em." Aria said. The girls nodded again. Emily's eyes glistened with unshed tears. She was so grateful for such caring and understanding friends. Emily took a deep breath and started to speak. The girls decided to take a seat on Emily's bed, Alison still sitting next to Emily on the window seat.

"When I was dating Ben, I always felt and thought I was....different." Emily paused and look at the four girls. They nodded their heads in encouragement urging Emily to go on. Emily took another deep breath and regrouped herself.

"When I kissed Ben for the first time," Emily blushed, she always got nervous talking about intimate things like kissing, even if it wasn't that big of a deal, "I didn't feel fireworks and sparks everyone says they feel during your first kiss. It was at that point that I knew I was different. During the frat party, you took us to," Emily looked at Alison when she said this. Alison nodded her head remembering the party she was talking about. Ian Thomas has pushed a sorority girl down the stairs, "this girl named Maya came up to me, she was a freshman in college, and she had noticed that I was standing by myself. You all had gone somewhere else and I was left alone not knowing what to do." Emily's blush deepened a little, "We started talking and she gave me a drink, I had at least two cups and she had at least three, so I was a little tipsy. I remember that she lead me to a more secluded part of the house where there was only minimal activity. She told me I looked beautiful." Emily's cheeks now were a deep, rosy, pink color, "I was too shy to compliment her back, she just giggled at my shy exterior and gently grabbed the back of my neck and drew me in closer to her face." Emily looked up for a moment. The other girls knew where this was heading, anyone would have been able to tell, "She leaned her head down and her lips ghosted over my own. Then she placed her lips on mine after a few seconds." Emily was now looking down and her cheeks were flaming red, "I felt the fireworks and sparks people talked about. My stomach felt like a hundred butterflies were flying around in it. She had kissed me and I...." Emily was about to say the one thing that would make this all the more real.

"It's okay, Emily," Alison soothed, rubbing Emily's hand with the hand that wasn't clasped with Emily's other hand.

"Yeah, we won't judge you at all." Hanna spoke up.

"We love you for who you are." Aria piped up.

"Nothing you say will make us love you less." Spencer said. Emily nodded, gathering up the courage she needed.

Emily took a deep breath in and exhaled it out, "....I....I liked it." Emily breathed a sigh of relief, so happy that she was able to tell her friends what had been conflicting her for a while now, "She kissed me and I like it. I realized then why I always felt different with Ben, I wanted to kiss a girl and I wanted to date a girl because I....I...." Emily stuttered, this was the moment where she was going to come out to her friends. They had displayed encouragement and comfort and they told her they would accept her no matter what, "I'm ga....gay." Emily stuttered out, "I never want to kiss a boy again because I'm gay." Emily repeated, with more confidence than before. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from Emily's chest. She could finally breathe, knowing that her friends had learned her secret and accepted and loved her for who she was and not who she kissed. Emily looked up at her friends. Their faces were proud, happy and most importantly love. Aria, Spencer and Hanna stood up from the bed and walked over to Emily, Alison who was next to Emily just turned to face her. The four girls engulfed Emily into a big group hug.

"We love you no matter what Emily." Spencer said while hugging Emily. Emily started crying happy tears. They still love me, Emily thought happily, tears still streaming down her face.

"I second that." Aria said, her voice muffled because she was in between Hanna and Spencer's bodies.

"Oh, sorry Aria, I didn't see you there." Spencer said, moving a little so Aria had more space. Aria thanked Spencer and then directed her attention to Hanna who was now speaking.

"Yeah Emily, we will always love you not matter what. Even if you prefer the pussy cat over the doggy bone!" Hanna joked trying to lighten up the conversation. The girls broke away from the hug and looked at Hanna, their eyes wide with shock from what their blonde friend had just said.

"Hanna!" Alison, Aria and Spencer shouted, looking over at Emily, who again was blushing fiercely. 

"What?" Hanna asked, trying to act innocent, "I was just stating a fact. Nothing wrong with that."

"Well, you could've worded it differently and not have used the terms, "pussy cat" and "doggy bone." Spencer said, putting quotations marks around the words with her hands. "Also, you're causing poor Em over here to blush." Spencer pointed her finger towards Emily. The girls looked towards Emily who was talking to Alison now. They saw the blush that Spencer was talking about very prominent on Emily's face. They looked away and started a conversation waiting for Emily and Alison to be done talking.

Alison turned to Emily and put her around Emily's waist and drew Emily into her body, Emily snuggling closer for comfort. Emily loved it when she was close to Alison like she was right now. It gave her a sense of security and comfort, much like her room did. But Alison felt more like her home. Yes, there was her room, which was located in her physical house, but Alison was like a home in the sense that she was always there for her, her presence and warmth always making her feel safe, all her worries disappearing when she's near her. Alison is her home, and she hopes that Alison feels the same way that she does about her.

Alison whispered into Emily's ear, "That took a lot of courage, mermaid. Thank you for trusting us. I know you still have something to tell us and we will always be here for you. Tell us when you're ready." Emily blushed from the feeling of Alison's warm breath tickling her ears. She had a feeling Alison knew about her crush on her. Alison pulled back and look Emily in the eyes. Emily nodded, a small blush coloring her cheeks, understanding what Alison told her. Emily looks back at her friends, who were now talking about something they heard at school. She then turned her head to Alison, who was smiling back at her. Emily smiled back, happy that Alison and the other three girls were not judging or disgusted by her from what she had just told them. They accepted her and still loved her and that's all she ever wanted. Now she just has to tell them of her undying love for Alison. But she'll leave that for later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the fricking huge wait.


	6. Meeting Estella

After Emily was done telling the girls what she wanted to tell them, they all walked downstairs. They could hear Estella and Ashton talking in the kitchen. They walked into the kitchen and into the scene of Ashton trying to wipe off ice cream and chocolate sauce that was all over Estella's face while Estella tried to wriggle away from his grasp and continue eating her ice cream.

"Come on, Estella!" Ashton pleaded, "Hold still for Uncle Ashton!" Estella shook her head and tried to continue eating her ice cream, which proved to be difficult since Ashton had a wipe in his hand and was trying to clean her face with it. The girls stood and watched the scene in amusement. After watching many failed attempts to rid of Estella's face of ice cream and chocolate sauce, Emily stepped forward and extended her hand for the wipe.

"Let me try." Emily told Ashton. Ashton gave up with trying to clean Estella's face and gave the wipe to Emily. He stepped back and stood next to his girlfriend who had been cleaning the kitchen while Ashton had been trying to clean Estella. The girls watched in amazement and admiration at Emily interacting with her daughter. "Estella, can you hold still for mommy?" Emily asked Estella, looking into her eyes, Estella nodded her head.

"Unbelievable!" Ashton cried, after seeing Estella nod when Emily asked if she could clean her face. "She holds still for you but not for her Uncle Ashton?" Ashton asked, shaking his head is disbelief, but not really mad at all. Emily turned to around and everyone saw the smirk that was present on Emily's face. The girls waited to hear what Emily's comeback would be.

"Ashton, she's my daughter, of course she's going to listen to me." Emily said. The girls laughed and looked at Ashton as he scoffed playfully. The girls loved how Emily acted with Estella, it was so adorable. They watched as Emily turned back around and proceeded to wipe Estella's face clear of ice cream and chocolate sauce. "Gosh Estella, how did you manage to get ice cream in your ear?" Emily asked surprised after finally cleaning Estella's face. 

"I don't know." Estella shrugged. "But Uncle Ashton says I eat like you when you were wittle." Estella continued, unintentionally ratting her uncle out.

"Is that so?" Emily asks and Estella nods her head. Emily turns around towards Ashton. Ashton is looking around trying to act all innocent, but Emily knows better. "Ashton, need I remind you of how when we always had spaghetti, you somehow always managed to get it in your hair and on the back of your head? Sure, when I was Estella's age, I was a messy eater, but that was expected. You were still getting spaghetti all over you when you were nine." Emily chuckled, the girls chuckling along with her, Emily knowing that she just turned the attention on Ashton and at the same time one-uped him.

"Mommy?" Estella called, bringing Emily's attention back to her.

"Yes, honey?" Emily asked turning back around to face Estella, the girls silently 'awwing' at the term of endearment Emily used towards her daughter. Estella didn't say anything and only held her hands out silently asking to be held. Emily noticed this and understood what her daughter was silently asking. Emily leaned forward and picked Estella up. Estella was then situated onto Emily's right hip. Emily turned around to face the girls. This would be the first time Estella would be meeting the girls and vise versa. Estella hid her head in the crook of Emily's neck, holding her mother tighter becoming a little shy, just like Emily said she would. The girls smiled at Emily excited to be finally meeting their niece. "Estella, sweetheart, I want you to meet my friends. They are so happy to be finally meeting you." Estella turned her head a tiny bit and peeked out of Emily's neck to inspect the four girls who were looking lovingly back at her. When she saw them gazing at her, she shook her head and clutched Emily tighter.

"How about we move this to the living room?" Spencer proposed, getting a unanimous agreement from everyone. Once everyone was seated- Ashton, Emily, Alison and Spencer on the couch, respectively, Katie on the recliner, and Hanna and Aria squished together on the love seat- Emily tried to get Estella to look at her friends again. She moved Estella so Estella was facing her, sitting in her lap, so Estella's head could rest on her chest. When Emily looked down at Estella, she was sucking her thumb. Emily doesn't recall sucking her thumb when she was little and she doesn't know if Ashton sucked his thumb or if he used a pacifier.

"Estella, it's okay." Emily soothed, rubbing Estella's back trying to dissipate her nervousness and shyness and maybe trying to calm herself down at the same time. "They are the girls from the picture you showed me." Emily told Estella. Estella rose her head to look at Emily.

Taking her thumb out of her mouth, Estella quietly asked, "The same ones?" Emily smiled down at her encouragingly, happy to see Estella emerging from her shell.

"The same ones." Emily reiterated back. Hanna and the rest of the girls 'awwed' again. Estella hearing this blushed a little. She wasn't used to getting so much attention. Estella nodded and turned her little body around on Emily's lap. Once she was facing forward, her back resting against Emily's chest, she cautiously looked at the four faces that were peering at her with excitement evident on their faces. Emily's wrapped her arms around Estella's body providing a sense of security for Estella, knowing that she was still a little nervous.

Emily leaned down and whispered into Estella's ear, "It's okay, Estella. They won't hurt you. They just want to meet their new niece." The four girls, hearing what Emily was telling Estella, nodded in agreement. Estella nodded her head at what Emily said. Look around silently, she ttried to put a name and a face together from what she remembered from the picture.

"Dat's Aria." Estella said softly, pointing her little pointer finger towards Aria who was sat beside Hanna. "Dat's Hanna." Estella said next, now pointing her finger toward Hanna. Hanna and Aria smiled widely, happy that Estella was finally talking. Estella turned her tiny body a little in Emily's lap so she could see Spencer and Alison. "Dat's Spencer." Estella said pointing her finger at Spencer. "And dat's Alison." Estella finished, correctly pronouncing her 'L's,' craning her neck to look at her mother who was beaming down at her with a proud look on her face.

"Good job, Estella. You even pronounced your 'L's' correctly." Emily proudly congratulating Estella, though noticing that Estella's pronunciation of her 'Th's' were a little off, but she didn't worry too much about it. After all, Estella was only three and she wasn't going to get everything perfect, even if she practiced.

Estella blushed bashfully and said, "Uncle Ashton made me practice saying dem in the car." Emily looked at Ashton and beamed at him.

"Thank you, Ashton." Emily thanked him, knowing that she would have never been able to teach her daughter everything that Ashton has, due to the fact that she hardly sees her daughter.

"You're welcome, it's really no problem. It's always a pleasure to help this little Tasmanian Devil here." Ashton joked, poking Estella in the stomach. Estella squealed happily finally breaking out of the shell she had been in.

"So...." Emily started after Estella's squealing and laughing had died down, "what do you want to know?" Emily asked directing the question towards her four friends.


	7. Getting Answers

"So...." Emily started after Estella's squealing and laughing had died down, "what do you want to know?" Emily asked directing the question towards her four friends.

"Well, um, how about we start with who he is." Hanna started, pointing towards Ashton.

Estella, who had been silently sitting on Emily's lap, piped up, "What do you mean, who is he? He's Uncle Ashton." Estella said innocently, grinning widely, showing off her toothy smile. Everyone laughed at little Estella's question.

"Well, you're not wrong, Estella..." Emily started but got interrupted by her daughter.

"I know, I never am," Estella stated proudly while Emily just turned her head towards Ashton and rolled her eyes when she saw the smile on his face. The others in the room just laughed at Estella's comment.

Hanna nudged Aria in the side, "See, just like Alison." She smirked. Aria laughed at Hanna's comment. Luckily, Alison, Spencer and Emily were too distracted with Estella to hear Hanna's remark.

"Anyways, Estella," Emily spoke up again, "they don't know who he is. Yes, they know he's your Uncle Ashton, but they don't know any more than that." Emily told her daughter.

"Okay." Estella replied back softly trying to fight a yawn. Her eyes were starting to droop a little. Estella snuggled herself deeper into her mother's embrace, Emily noticing this and hugging Estella tighter.

Katie noticing Estella's tiredness asked Estella, "Estella, do you want your blanket and stuffed animal?" Estella turned towards Katie and nodded her little head tiredly. Emily noticed this and held Estella closer to her. It had been a long day for all of them and if it had seemed long to them, to a three-year-old it must have felt like it would never end. Emily watched as Katie pulled out a black bag that the girls hadn't know was there. Katie reached inside it and pulled out an orangey-pink blanket with small faded yellow, blue and cream colored hexagons decorated all around it. Along with the blanket, she pulled out an orange koala that had a purple nose, the pads of its feet colored blue, the inside of the ears also colored blue and a thin red line curving slightly upwards for a mouth. Katie gave the blanket and stuffed animal to Estella who instantly snuggled them into her chest. All the girls smiled at Estella's adorable behavior. The girls all wondered if this was what Emily acted like when she was a young child. Emily gently ran her hands through Estella's dirty blonde locks hoping that Estella would fall asleep for a bit. Alison —who was the closest to Emily— looked at her. She admired Emily's motherly behavior and she had no doubt whatsoever in her mind that Emily was a great mother.

"What koala is orange, purple and blue?" Hanna asked looking at the oddly colored koala that Estella was now snuggling with  
"What koala is orange, purple and blue?" Hanna asked looking at the oddly colored koala that Estella was now snuggling with. Estella, upon hearing Hanna talk about her beloved stuffed animal, perked up just as Emily thought she was going to fall asleep and faster than anyone thought a three-year-old could move, Estella had turned around in Emily's lap, once again facing the girls.

"One that got tired of the color brown and decided to fool around a bit." Ashton tried to joke. Emily elbowed him in the side and he winced. "Ow! What was that for?" Ashton asked rubbing the spot where Emily had elbowed him. "You have bony elbows." He muttered as an afterthought.

"Stop joking around and I wouldn't have to elbow you," Emily said and glared at Ashton. The others in the room laughed at the bickering between the two but soon turned their attention to Estella.

"Dis one is!" Estella exclaimed happily —at the same time Ashton made his comment— showing off her orange, purple and blue koala.

"Awwwwe!" The girls all chorused. Estella had truly captured their hearts with her adorable behavior. Estella blushed a little when she heard the girls 'awwwe' at her.

"What's your koala's name?" Aria asked lightly, hoping not to make Estella go back to her shy self. Emily looked down at Estella, looking at her encouragingly after scolding Ashton for his joke.

"Her name is Peek-a-boo," Estella replied shyly, sounding it out slowly to pronounce it correctly.

"That's a cute name," Spencer said.

"Dank you," Estella responded quietly.

"Does your blanket have a name?" Alison asked looking at Estella. Estella peered up at Alison. She nodded her head.

"Orange blankie," Estella responded. Estella was again met with a chorused 'awwwe' by the girls.

"Is Peek-a-boo's favorite game, 'Peek-a-boo'?" Hanna asked with a smile.

Estella gasped and exclaimed, "How did you know?" Everyone laughed at Estella's question and surprised reaction.

"She looks like a 'Peek-a-boo' kinda gal," Hanna responded. Emily looked down at her daughter in adoration. She was so happy that Estella was finally warming up to her friends. She had no doubt that once Estella fully warmed up to her friends, they would get along.

"Okay," Emily spoke up bringing the attention back to her, "back to Hanna's original question about who Ashton is, he is Estella's uncle, which you already know and...."Emily paused for a second, "he's my older brother." She finished looking around at everybody.

"Yeah, we know." Hanna said bluntly. Emily looked at her confused. She doesn't remember ever telling her friends about Ashton. This was the first time she was bringing it up.

"Hanna!" The three other girls shouted in unison.

"What? We heard her say it back at Ashton's hou—ohhh. Emily doesn't know we followed her, does she?" Hanna said with a nervous smile on her face realizing what she just revealed, "Oops." Hanna finished nervously.

"No, no she didn't, but now she does." Spencer replied calmly, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Wait, wait wait. You followed me?" Emily asked greatly surprised with this new bit of information. The girls nodded.

"Sorry," Hanna said, "but in our defense, we just wanted to know if you hadn't killed somebody or done anything illegal." Hanna continued.

"It's okay. I'm just surprised you guys were so curious, you followed me." Emily explained still slightly shocked at her friends.

"Are you mad at us?" Alison asked from beside Emily. Emily looked at Alison.

"No, I'm not mad, I'm just slightly shocked, but not mad." Emily answered back, the four girls released a sigh of relief.

"Like Hanna said, we just wanted to make sure you hadn't killed anybody, but if you had, we would gladly help you hide the body." Alison said grinning, rubbing Emily's back a little. Emily blushed at this gesture, her stomach feeling like butterflies were flying around in it. Ashton noticed Emily's blush and smirked. He knew why Emily was blushing. He didn't go three years with helping Emily and not hear any gossip from her. Emily noticed the shit-eating grin on Ashton's face and elbowed him in the side a second time, this time in a different spot.

"Ow!" Ashton said quietly, not wanting to draw attention to them, again rubbing where Emily had elbowed him, "Stop doing that. All I was doing was smiling." He retorted back defending his actions. Emily just gave him a look, knowing he wasn't 'just smiling.'

"Yeah, but you know why you were grinning. I already came out to them upstairs but I'm just not ready to tell that that detail." Emily told Ashton quietly. Ashton knew what detail Emily was talking about. "Maybe after this conversation." Emily whispered back. Ashton nodded his head.

"I'm proud of you Lil' sis. I knew you could do it." Ashton told Emily patting her on the back lightly, obviously talking about Emily coming out to her friends.

"Hey, Fields #1 and Fields #2, are you having a secret conversation or something over there?" Hanna piped up, drawing attention to Emily and Ashton.

"No," Ashton started, "we were just talking about Emily coming out." Ashton replied, hoping Emily wouldn't get mad at him.

"Wow, you really just cut to the chase, don't you?" Emily murmured.

"Yep, mommy told me never to lie." Ashton smirked back. Emily's eyes widened and she looked at him.

"So, Pam and Wayne are your parents?" Spencer asked.

"Yep, Mama Fields and Papa Fields are my parents." Ashton answered back.

"Your whole life's a lie, Ashton." Emily finally responded after Ashton made the comment about 'not lying.'

"Wait, what?!" The four girls exclaimed in unison, now very interested in where this conversation was going.

A/N: I know none of this CIA stuff is actually accurate or even true. So please don't comment things like, 'that's not true' or 'that doesn't happen' and things like that because in my story this is what happens. So for anyone who has a family member that has a similar job, please don't take offense to my facts that are probably wrong. Thank you!

Ashton sighed, "I guess it's time for me to tell you who exactly I am and what I do." The girls nodded their heads. They wanted to know just who exactly Ashton Patrick Fields was, "I work for the CIA I have a very high IQ which allowed for me to skip a few grades in high school causing me to graduate at the age of sixteen. I have a skill for hacking into databases with computers— 

“Hey, my boyfriend, Caleb's a hacker!" Hanna interrupted. 

Everyone tried to stifle a laugh at Hanna's random comments and interruption. —"I'm sure we'll get along just fine then." Ashton replied, laughing a little at Hanna's comment. "Anyways, during college, while everyone was out partying and getting drunk, I was hacking into databases. That was my fun. Eventually, the CIA picked up on it. They offered me an ultimatum. Either I finish college but stop the hacking—apparently, I had hacked into a database and made it seem like one thing happened but it was really the opposite." Ashton said remembering back to when he had hacked into the Russian military database—It was one of his fondest memories, "So they told me either stop hacking or risk actually being charged, or take up a serious job at the CIA working with different hackers and becoming a CIA agent, I obviously took the job, what college student wouldn't?" Ashton asked rhetorically, "but taking this job came with a price," Ashton looked over at his sister, tears brimming his eyes, remembering what he had had to do, "because the job the CIA offered me was more dangerous and secretive, I had to cut off all contact with my family. I couldn't risk putting them in danger in the case that something went wrong and an enemy of the United States found out who I was." Ashton paused to recollect himself. The girls were stunned at what they had just learned. Not only did Ashton work for the CIA but he had to cut off all contact with his family, which meant Emily, "After arguing with my parents, I took the job. They didn't want me to leave so I kinda left on a sour note." That was one of the things that Ashton regrets. Not being able to repair his relationship with his parents after he left. But he wanted to try at least. "I was not only leaving behind my parents, I was leaving behind my little sister, Emily, who was only three at the time. I still remember my last words to her." Ashton said, remembering that bitter and somber day, 15 years ago.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you are enjoying the story so far! Comment, share, kudos or don't. No pressure. I just hope you are enjoying this story and want to read more! :) - Munro McLaren


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